Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein met with the media before today’s game, touching on a huge range of important topics before we head into this weekend series against the Reds.
On Kris Bryant’s recovery:
Theo said Kris Bryant felt really good in his cage hitting session. A rehab assignment possible. They will formulate a plan going forward . Bryant has been on DL with a sore shoulder for two weeks .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) July 6, 2018
Theo Epstein said Kris Bryant had a good day in the batting cage. #Cubs will decide if third baseman will make a rehab assignment.
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) July 6, 2018
Kris Bryant had a good day in the cage, per Theo. Could know more postgame
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) July 6, 2018
So, then, mostly it’s still a waiting game on how Bryant feels later today and tomorrow. I presume that a rehab assignment decision would be almost entirely based on whether Bryant feels he needs to see in-game, live-pitching action before returning. If it were only 10 days, you might feel fine about throwing him right back out there. At two weeks and counting, it might be best for him to see some live pitching at South Bend or something just for a day, and then come on back. We’ll see.
The other big mysterious injury recovery for the Cubs is Yu Darvish’s, and here’s Epstein:
Theo on Darvish – He is feeling much better. Epstein said no time table yet .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) July 6, 2018
#Cubs Darvish doing better but has yet to play catch/throw. Theo: "We're not going to set any timetables until he moves from the strengthening phase to the throwing phase."
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 6, 2018
If Darvish still isn’t even throwing – and doesn’t necessarily sound close – then I would say a return by the end of July, which the Cubs’ pitching coach was calling optimistic yesterday, is something closer to MEGA optimistic. I am not counting on it, and I can only assume the Cubs will not plan their trade deadline strategy on the presumption that Darvish will definitely be back.
Speaking of which:
Theo sounded like nothing imminent on trade front. Duensing, Darvish etc probably forcing them to use up the whole month to assess. Oh, and he said no need for a bat so whoever wasted all that time on Machado IN MAY, shame on you. Ha.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) July 6, 2018
#Cubs Theo: "I don't think this is the year we're going to be out front beating the market but I do think industry wide there will be a lot of activity well before the deadline."
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 6, 2018
#Cubs have been early movers in July trade markets. Theo says they're still in "mode of assessing." Not a lot they would add w/ pos. players. Pitching TBD.
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) July 6, 2018
Sounds about right. As was the case back when rumors started kicking up, the Cubs’ needs may not be clear until the very end of the month. It’s just a bit unlike other years in that regard.
But it’s interesting to see Epstein confirming our general sense that otherwise the market seems to be moving fast. Which, again, presents a challenge for the Cubs, who may miss out on the best options because they (reasonably) decide to wait. But then again, sellers who move now will have to do so knowing that they might be missing out on the best market for their players if they, too, were willing to wait.